At the beginning of August, Mu Wen received her first official paycheck.
It was a full 13,000 yuan, which felt like a huge amount of money to her.
She had worked very hard for that 13,000 yuan.
She had only just started working officially and was mainly assisting Lin Weisen. During that time, two clients that nobody else wanted to deal with were assigned to her. She worked late into the night and took the job even more seriously than she had taken her studies. With her basic salary and bonuses combined, she earned 13,000 yuan. After housing fund and social insurance deductions, she received about 10,000 yuan.
One day, she overheard the finance staff talking.
“Engineer Lin is really amazing. He made over 100,000 yuan this month.”
They were naturally talking about Lin Weisen. His clients were mostly large, high-end projects, so his bonuses were very high.
Mu Wen thought to herself, When will I be able to become like Master?
She wanted to celebrate receiving her first paycheck with someone, but Chu Ling had been sent by her company to cover the U.S. Open before the tournament and would not be back until the end of the month. Her classmates who worked at design institutes were also stationed at project sites, so none of them could accompany her.
She still wanted to celebrate this meaningful day.
That afternoon, she bought small cakes and coffee for her Master and Little Gu. She also bought a very cute bib for Little Gu’s baby.
Little Gu loved it so much that he could hardly put it down.
“Engineer Mu, you really spent too much!”
At their company, designers were generally addressed as “Engineer,” so although Mu Wen had only just started working, she was already Engineer Mu.
Mu Wen said to Little Gu, “Next month, I’ll give the baby a little pair of chopsticks.”
Little Gu treated Mu Wen very well.
When Mu Wen had just taken over her new work, she often had too much to handle. Twice, she was unable to go back to a site to take measurements, so Little Gu went during his lunch break and did it for her.
Mu Wen was very grateful to him.
Late one night after work, she passed the famous KTV near Baishi Bridge.
There were groups of people standing outside, many of them already showing signs of having had a few drinks.
When she was a student, she rarely took part in this kind of entertainment. It was too expensive for her, and she was always reluctant to spend the money.
But little “Money-Guarding Creature” Mu Wen decided to splurge for once.
She was going to sing karaoke!
Carrying her heavy backpack, she pushed open the door.
The lights inside were dazzling and mysterious. Pretty dresses and stylish shoes passed back and forth in front of her eyes. She felt as if she had accidentally wandered into a grand garden.
In the few times she had gone with classmates before, they had stayed together, so she never felt nervous. But now she was alone, and she felt a little weak and out of place.
She looked like an outsider.
She booked the smallest private room.
Once inside, she had no idea what song to sing.
Then Xie Chong called.
“The round knob on one of the custom furniture pieces fell off. Arrange someone to come fix it.”
Since they had met on that rainy night, they had spoken on the phone twice more, both times because of problems with the furniture.
Mu Wen had officially started working, and Lin Weisen was extremely busy, so he had handed some after-sales service for his old clients over to her.
After Xie Chong learned about this, he was quite pleased.
From then on, anything big or small in his house, he would confidently ask her about.
Mu Wen thought Xie Chong was practically an idiot when it came to everyday life.
Every time she sent a technician over for after-sales service, the technician would come back and say,
“That’s rich people for you. He won’t even tighten a screw himself.”
Now that he said the door handle had fallen off, Mu Wen casually brushed him off.
“Okay, okay. It’s too late now. I’ll put in a service request for you tomorrow.”
“Where are you? Why can’t you submit it now?” Xie Chong asked. “Do it now.”
“I’m singing karaoke. My computer has no internet, so I can’t.”
“You’re singing alone? Then I’ll come too.”
He insisted that Mu Wen give him the address.
Half an hour later, he pushed open the door to her private room.
The room was so small that when he sat down at one end of the sofa, the whole space suddenly felt cramped.
Mu Wen stopped her terrible singing and said, “Hurry up and pick a song. I only booked the room for one hour. There’s only five minutes left!”
It was Xie Chong’s first time seeing someone rent a KTV room for only one hour.
This really is too much for a miser like her.
He went out and added another two hours.
When he came back, Mu Wen was already sitting there obediently.
“Keep singing,” he said.
She waved her hand.
“I’m not singing anymore. My room time is over. It’s your turn now.”
Mu Wen was deliberately teasing Xie Chong.
Xie Chong was a very fun person, and she liked teasing him.
When she joked with her coworkers, she usually stopped after one or two remarks because she was afraid they might get angry.
But when she talked to Xie Chong, she could say whatever she wanted without worrying about upsetting him.
His mouth wasn’t exactly kind either.
Xie Chong picked up the microphone and pretended to throw it at her.
He looked fierce enough to scare someone.
Mu Wen giggled.
“Come on, sing. I’ve never heard you sing before.”
“In your dreams.”
Xie Chong glanced at the thermos on the table.
“You came to karaoke and brought your own thermos?”
“Water is expensive,” Mu Wen answered seriously.
“You didn’t order anything to eat either?”
“I bought a pancake downstairs at the company. I added two eggs. I’m full.”
“So you came here just to sing?”
“Does KTV not allow people to sing without eating?”
Mu Wen looked completely confident.
“Isn’t KTV for singing?”
“You’re right.”
Xie Chong was amused to the point of laughter.
He stood up and went outside again.
When he returned, three people followed behind him carrying trays filled with beer, snacks, cold dishes, noodles, and fruit.
He had vaguely guessed that today might be a special day for Mu Wen.
Otherwise, she would never have spent so much money on karaoke.
For her, this was probably the kind of spending she considered “useless.”
Mu Wen never spent money on useless things.
Since it was a special day, Xie Chong did not want to let it pass without some celebration.
“What are you doing?” Mu Wen asked. “You haven’t eaten either?”
“No.”
“So what happens if you can’t finish all this?”
“Then we’ll throw it away.”
As he spoke, Xie Chong tossed a handful of chopsticks in front of her.
Then he sat in the middle of the sofa, opened a bottle of beer, and took a sip.
“Is it good?” Mu Wen asked.
“You’re from Inner Mongolia and you’re asking me whether the alcohol is good?”
“Hehe, I don’t drink much. My father used to drive a big truck, so he couldn’t drink…”
“What about now?”
“Now he delivers goods around the banners, sumu, and gacha in Yakeshi. He still can’t drink.”
“What do those words even mean?”
Xie Chong looked at her helplessly. She kept saying things he couldn’t understand.
Seeing that she still wasn’t picking up her chopsticks, he said,
“Have something with me. Let’s sit and talk for a while.”
He opened another bottle of beer and put it in front of Mu Wen.
His own bottle gently touched hers, making a clear sound.
“Cheers.”
He raised his head and took a sip.
Foam rose inside the glass bottle, and a little spilled from the corner of his mouth. He casually wiped it away with a tissue.
“Why are we toasting?” Mu Wen asked.
“For any reason you want. Let’s just say today is a good day.”
Mu Wen was very happy.
Today really was a good day!
She moved over and sat beside Xie Chong, then tapped her bottle against his.
“Cheers.”
The door opened, and a server came in carrying two hot dishes.
Mu Wen looked surprised.
“There’s more?”
“That’s it,” Xie Chong said. “Really, nothing else.”
Only then did Mu Wen relax and nod.
She was actually very happy that Xie Chong had come without being invited.
That way, she didn’t feel quite so lonely.
They did not sing a single song in the KTV.
Instead, they sat there and ate.
Mu Wen took one sip of beer, then another.
When she was about to take a third sip, Xie Chong took the bottle away from her.
“Just this one bottle. Take it slowly.”
Mu Wen did not look like she could hold her alcohol very well. He was worried that if she got drunk, she might use all her strength and accidentally smash up the place.
Mu Wen obediently picked up her chopsticks and treated herself to a better meal.
On weekends, she and Chu Ling cooked good food at home.
On workdays, they ate simple fast food—rice noodles, noodles, or rice dishes.
Xie Chong had ordered so much food that it immediately awakened her appetite.
She ate with her head down while chatting with him.
She asked about his business.
“To be honest, I’ve known you for so long, but I still don’t know what exactly you do. Did your family’s money just fall from the sky?”
“Why do you want to know so much about me? Are you planning to spend your life with me?”
Xie Chong gave her a sideways glance and smiled.
“My work… how should I put it? It’s actually not that complicated. On one hand, I collect and trade art. I find artworks and resell them to people who like them. It’s one branch of the art business.”
“I also do import and export business with a good friend. We sell daily necessities overseas through large-scale trade.”
“My parents are in the bearing business. I help them from time to time too.”
Mu Wen tried to digest all of that.
“So the people you deal with are all rich people! I finally understand why you always go to that restaurant with the palace maids and eunuchs…”
“That restaurant… my business partner was talked into buying a membership card.”
Mu Wen immediately pictured Xie Chong standing among all those palace maids and eunuchs.
She couldn’t help laughing.
She had never expected Xie Chong’s work to be so complicated.
She had almost been overwhelmed just doing one job.
Yet Xie Chong had several businesses and still looked so relaxed.
He was so relaxed that sometimes it seemed as if he didn’t need to work at all.
It was only at that moment that Mu Wen realized something.
Working diligently every day was not the only path a person could take.
There were countless possible paths.
What mattered was making the right choice.
And one’s starting point mattered too.
She knew that Xie Chong had been standing at a high place from birth.
He always said that he was nothing special in Beijing. There were countless entrepreneurs and artists in the city, and rich people could be found everywhere.
But Mu Wen knew that was simply his modest way of speaking.
He had been born into a privileged position.
That was why he had more choices when it came to work.
Mu Wen was a little envious of him.
But then she thought again.
There might be many people standing high above others, but there were also many people who climbed quickly.
Once she thought of it that way, her mind suddenly opened up again.
On the very day she received her first paycheck, Mu Wen realized that she couldn’t keep working like this forever.
She needed another path for herself.
Xie Chong noticed that she had been silent for a long time.
He had no idea what was going on inside her head, but there was a strange light in her eyes.
He nudged her arm with his elbow.
“Why are you suddenly so interested in my work?”
Mu Wen pulled her thoughts back and said,
“I want to understand you better.”
“Why?”
Because I can’t stop wanting to know more about you.
That was what Mu Wen said silently in her heart.
In her actions, she strictly maintained the boundaries between herself and Xie Chong.
But in her heart, she kept thinking about him.
She couldn’t treat him like an ordinary client.
At the same time, she was afraid that those feelings would disturb the balance between them, so she forced herself to appear open and relaxed.
Yet every time she answered his call, she secretly hoped they could talk a little longer.
Just like today.
They were in a place where they were supposed to be singing, yet they hadn’t sung a single song.
Instead, they simply sat there and talked leisurely.
Mu Wen told Xie Chong about her hometown.
She talked about her father and mother.
Somehow, she ended up talking about her father’s accident.
As she spoke, she picked up a tissue and wiped away her tears.
She had been very young at the time.
She only knew that her father had been badly injured. She had not understood how long it would take for a family to recover financially after going through something like that.
She said she knew she could be stingy sometimes.
It was not a very likable trait.
But fortunately, she had a few sincere friends who had never left her because of it.
Xie Chong quietly listened beside her.
He had guessed that her family probably wasn’t well-off, but he had never imagined that things had once been that difficult.
He remembered her flower-shaped hair clip with a missing flower and her worn-out shoes with the soles showing.
He realized that she had already been doing her best.
He did not comfort her.
He didn’t know how.
He had never experienced the pain she had gone through.
But he still felt uncomfortable seeing her like this.
The usually optimistic Mu Wen was wiping away tears in front of him after drinking a little beer.
Fortunately, she quickly managed to cheer herself up.
She waved her hand and said to Xie Chong,
“My father is getting a new car this New Year!”
“Congratulations,” Xie Chong said.
“Thank you.”
Mu Wen immediately returned to her cheerful self.
Xie Chong deliberately leaned closer to look at her.
She had just cried, so her eyes and the tip of her nose were red.
“Finished crying?” he asked.
“Finished.”
“So when are you going to fix my handle?”
Xie Chong said, “To be honest, that handle looks terrible. It looks so bad that I don’t even want to go home.”
He had already moved into Wanliu.
After unexpectedly discovering that he could actually sleep very well there, he had decisively moved in.
“If I submit the order tomorrow, the earliest they can come is the day after tomorrow,” Mu Wen said. “Unless I fix it for you myself.”
“You can?”
Xie Chong was a little surprised.
He had always thought Mu Wen could only draw designs and wouldn’t know how to do hands-on work.
“I’ll go take a look tomorrow.”
Mu Wen promised.
Before they parted, she said to Xie Chong,
“Thank you for coming today. You were right. Today really is a good day, because I received my first paycheck after officially starting work!”
“Then pay me for the private room and the food we just had.”
Xie Chong held out his hand.
Mu Wen smacked his palm with a loud slap.
“I have no money.”
She grabbed the packed food from his hand and ran away.
The next day, Mu Wen arrived at Xie Chong’s home carrying a toolbox.
This was her first time returning after the house had been completely renovated.
The feeling was very strange.
She couldn’t find the right words to describe it.
She stood outside the door, took several deep breaths, and finally pressed the doorbell.
When Xie Chong opened the door and saw her toolbox, he asked,
“You really know how to do this?”
“Of course. Nothing can defeat me!”
As she spoke, she took out her shoe covers, just as she always did when entering a client’s home.
But Xie Chong stopped her.
He took out a brand-new pair of women’s slippers.
“Put these on.”
“Is that okay? Won’t you complain tomorrow that I didn’t follow the proper service procedure?”
Xie Chong couldn’t be bothered to answer.
He took her toolbox and walked toward the living room.
Mu Wen thought for a moment, then left the door wide open and walked inside.
Xie Chong glanced at the open door, then at Mu Wen.
He gave a cold laugh.
“You’re guarding yourself against me?”
“Service procedure. It’s just service procedure.”
“Forget your stupid procedure.”
As he spoke, he got her a bottle of mineral water and opened it for her.
When he lowered his head, he noticed the cute socks on her feet, decorated with little animals.
How can anyone like wearing socks like these?
He thought they were far too cute.
Mu Wen immediately noticed the decorations in his living room.
He hadn’t been exaggerating.
He really did understand interior styling.
His idea of soft furnishings was having beautiful artworks arranged throughout the living room, with many exquisite crafts displayed inside the cabinets.
His taste was very diverse, combining different styles together.
It looked sophisticated and beautiful.
“These are all artworks I’ve worked on,” Xie Chong introduced.
“They must all be very expensive, right?”
“Not too expensive. If you invest in an artist before they become completely famous, it’s like buying futures. Your chances of making a profit are higher.”
“You’re amazing.”
Mu Wen stood in front of the artworks, amazed that someone in the world could possess such talent.
“Do you really like going to exhibitions?” she asked.
“Exhibitions?”
Xie Chong almost rolled his eyes.
“Ninety percent of the exhibitions on the market are just gimmicks. Garbage. I don’t like going.”
He was arrogant.
For the first time, Mu Wen saw such genuine arrogance in him.
She realized that beneath the politeness he showed other people, there might always be a hint of judgment.
He wasn’t completely as refined and courteous as she had thought.
But somehow, this version of him didn’t seem so unreachable anymore.
He was becoming real and tangible.
“Should I go fix the handle?”
“Come on. It’s in the bedroom.”
“Oh.”
Mu Wen hesitated at the bedroom door for a moment.
Xie Chong lightly pushed her forward from behind.
“What are you doing? Are you performing some kind of ritual?”
The force moved her one step forward, and she found herself standing inside the room.
Xie Chong’s bedroom contained almost nothing unnecessary.
The dark-colored bed was clean and neat, and the entire room was decorated in cool tones.
The small flower on the large windowsill was the only bright touch of color in the room.
Xie Chong sat on the windowsill, his long legs resting on the floor.
He blocked the sunlight behind him.
He noticed the unusual nervousness in Mu Wen.
She rarely behaved like this.
She didn’t speak to him or look around.
Instead, she walked directly to the cabinet and examined the handle.
The technician who had come before had not been wrong.
Xie Chong really was unwilling to tighten even a single screw himself.
Mu Wen crouched down and took the tools out of her toolbox.
When she stood up, she suddenly found Xie Chong standing right behind her.
She gave a startled cry, stepped backward, and fell onto the bed.
“What are you doing?!”
Xie Chong had both hands behind his back, tightly holding the personal clothing he had forgotten to put away.
He suddenly felt awkward.